ISSN 2253-3826

No. 160 August - September

2012

The Journal of the Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers

(NZ) Inc - KASK

NEW ZEALANDSEA CANOEIST

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

3

INDEXEDITORIAL p. 3Lisa Carrington K1 Gold p. 3Recent NZ Paddlecraft Incidents P. Caffyn from media rep. p. 3

KASKNew committee update by Ian McKenzie p. 4KASK on Facebook by Doug Aitken p.13KAYAK KALENDAR 2013 Forum, Pilgrimage p.14

PADDLING NEWS NZThe South Island in Winter by Tara Mulvany p. 5

OVERSEAS PADDLING NEWSIran Misses Out by Sandy Robson p. 7Freya Hoffmeister Around Sth. Am, off her blog p. 8Freya Pose Photo Competition by Paul Caffyn p. 8

NEW ZEALAND TRIP REPORTSNydia Bay Queens Birthday by Rob Rainsbury p.10

MY FIRST KAYAK by Ruth Henderson p.11Beginnings (my fi rst kayak) by Alan Byde p.17

THE ‘BUGGER!’ FILE from Evan P & Rowena H p.14

OVERSEAS REPORTSWest Island Bits - September 2012 by Dave Winkworth p.15

BOOK REVIEWSRivers of Britain by Stuart Fisher Review: Paul Caffyn p.19Commando Kayak by John Hoehn Review: J. Kirk-Anderson p.20New Book Releases p.20

HUMOUR p.21Deadline for articles and photos for next Newsletter: 25 Nov. 2012Editing and Layout: Paul Caffynemail: kayakpc@xtra.co.nz

EDITORIALKASK CommitteeAfter a period of time in the wilder-ness, an enthusiastic KASK commit-tee is back on the rails with Christch-urch paddler Ian McKenzie at the helm. Ian works as a project manager in real life, and this is helping no end with task setting for the committee members. See p. 4 for a presidential report, a brief paddler bio for Ian and who is on the committee.

The young fella on the committee, Doug Aitken, has already set up a Facebook site for KASK - see note on p. 13. Doug’s photos and reports of trips into Fiordland have featured in past newsletters.

Lisa Carrington K1 Gold Medal WinnerIn today’s age of self importance and Facebook ego blogs, I was so pleased to see Lisa Carrington acknowledge the help from her mate Erin Taylor. Lisa has paid tribute to the friend and crewmate who helped make her K1 gold-medal winning kayak dream a reality.

Four years ago Erin Taylor became the fi rst female paddler to represent New Zealand at an Olympic Games. Carrington said it was that break-through, and Taylor’s ability to chal-lenge her in daily training, which helped guide her on Saturday night in London. “Erin was the fi rst girl to go to the Olympics in Beijing. She’s my team-mate and really good friend,” Carrington said. “We’re the fastest two in New Zealand so to be able to train with someone who pushes your boundaries and keeps you on top of your game, but is also your mate, it’s pretty special. We get on like a house on fi re. She’s awesome and is fully behind me.”

Carrington’s coach, Gordon Walker, goes even further saying part of the Olympic title won by Carrington was earned by Taylor, “A big part

of Lisa’s success is the environ-ment, it’s critical to her day-to-day happiness which infl uences how she trains,” Walker said. “Erin’s a mas-sive part of that environment, she’s got a part of that medal, without question.”

So often today, there is no acknowl-edgement of those who have gone before or helped, or advised and mentored the young folk. To me, Lisa’s acknowledgement is the mark of a great sportswoman.

SAFETYWhether it is early enthusiasm for summer recreation, the following list of close shaves and rescues show we cannot be blasé about promoting safe kayaking, with these simple but so vitally important messages of:- wearing a PFD- carrying two means of comms- dressing for immersion- leaving trip intentions- being confi dent with rescues

Recent NZ Paddlecraft Incidents19 August 2012 Two kayakers were pulled from the Tukituki River in Hawkes Bay after being swept out towards the sea and capsizing. The man and his young daughter were paddling a double kay-ak, near the mouth of the river about lunchtime when their kayak capsized. Police said neither the man nor his daughter were wearing lifejackets.

23 August 2012A party of four polytech students planned to kayak down the Hollyford River, out the river mouth and then down to the coast into Milford Sound. One paddler capsized on the bar, but the other three paddlers were unable to rescue the paddler, and called for help. A Milford based helicopter used a scoop net to rescue the paddler. The party had both Mountain Radio and VHF sets with them.

(continued on the base of p. 4)

PHOTOGRAPH CREDITSCover: A Canterbury Sea Kayak Network paddle in Pelorus Sound, with paddlers en-route from Nydia Bay to Pipi Beach. Photo: Brenda Rainsbury.Opposite page: Top left: The CSKN paddlers stop at Pipi Beach on a cracker winter day in the Marlborough Sounds. Photo: Brenda RainsburyBottom left: The group early morning at Nydia Bay, preparing to head for Pipi Beach. Photo: Brenda Rainsbury

No. 160 August - September 2012

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been a little slow to start, however we are now meeting regularly (Sky-pe makes it really easy) and have the following actions underway:

Actions underway or being consid-ered by the committee:- Review of KASK handbook (pro-ducing edition 5)- Safe Paddling Guide (do we have the capacity for this?)- Promotion of KASK- Update to membership brochure- Contact with all kayak networks listed in the newsletter- Update website, enable contributions - Safety and linkage with other or-ganisationsKASK represents other water sport groups to National Pleasure Boat fo-rum (Maritime NZ) and Water Safe-ty NZ. Contact to be maintained with these groups to ensure their views are understood.

KASK review process (used to en-sure that people with the appropri-ated skills and experience instruct/ lead at forums) is to be written down and noted with the bios provided

Paul Caffyn is coordinating input from a range of experienced contrib-utors to the various sections of the handbook and welcomes improve-ments that KASK members might suggest for incorporation into the 5th edition. Please email Paul.

Ian McKenzieSeptember 2012

KASK

KASK Committee 2012/2013I’m pleased to introduce the KASK committee to you:

CommitteeIan McKenzie – President Doug Aitken – CommitteeSandy Ferguson – WebmasterPaul Caffyn – Publications & liaison with National Pleasure Boat ForumConrad Edwards – CommitteeJohn Hesseling – CommitteeKay Pigeon - KASK Administrator, (Secretary and Treasurer).

There are still vacancies for a cou-ple of people and the more people around the country we have the bet-ter the fl ow of information, so don’t be shy, contact Ian McKenzie.

The next elections will be at the KASK AGM in conjunction with the Raglan Forum in March 2013.

Roles outside the committeeForum 2013 organisers - Evan Pugh, John Gumbley, John HesselingConservation and DoC liaison – John Gumbley WSNZ liaison - Sandy Winterton

There were still some committee po-sitions to be fi lled after 2012 AGM (held in March at the Forum in Wai-nui - Akaroa Harbour) so we have

A bit about IanIan built a canvas skinned kayak in 1970 for a Wanganui River trip with Scouts. Distracted for several dec-ades by the hills and various things with engines and wheels, Ian tracked down the Canterbury Sea Kayak Network at an Okains Bay forum about fi ve years ago.

The forum led to rediscovering Lyt-telton Harbour from the water, pur-chase of a bit of gear and now with a roll, a radio, a demonstration heli-copter rescue and some great South Island trips, Ian wants to help others tap into the vast experience he has discovered within KASK.

Ian’s email contact:mckian@xtra.co.nz

Ian McKenzie

25 August 2012A woman was rescued off the coast of Waikanae after falling out of her kayak about 150 m from shore. The 37-year-old was in the water for about 40 minutes before being res-cued by boat. Craig Pickering, mari-time police senior launch master, said she was unable to get back in her kayak after tumbling out but was wearing a lifejacket.

29 August 2012Concerns were growing for an Auck-land man who went paddle boarding at Takapuna Beach on the afternoon of 29 August and had not been seen

since. A police spokesman said the man aged in his early 50s entered the water at the northern end of the beach. When he did not return, fam-ily members rang police and a search was launched. His paddle board was later found by the crew of the police launch Deodar.

2 September 2012Kayaker to the RescueA mystery man on a kayak rescued two brothers drowning in chilly wa-ter as they were being dragged out to sea in a rip off a beach north of Napi-er. The teenagers were swimming with a group of friends at Waipatiki

Beach when they became caught in a rip about 2 pm. The brothers, aged 15 and 16, spent about 15 minutes try-ing to swim back to shore. A man on the beach noticed the struggling pair and paddled his kayak out to rescue them. As soon as he had saved the boys, the kayaker left the beach.

Overseas1 September 2012After being picked up by US Coast-guard, Russell Crowe denied being lost while kayaking with a mate off Long Island. Crowe reckoned they just ran out of daylight, but knew ex-actly where they were.

Editorial continued from p.3

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

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beach at the entrance to the Cable Bay, desperate to pee – oh what re-lief!

Next day the marine forecast was for 35 knot south-easterlies. We battled into headwinds all morning, watch-ing huge gusts picking up water and willywaws speeding around us. The going was slow so we decided to pull up on a beach and resorted to lying in tussock mounds, dodging face-fulls of sand for the rest of the day.

The south-easterlies were still blow-ing next morning but things seemed to have died down as we gapped it towards French Pass - the small gap that separates D’Urville Island from the South Island. We camped just on the western side of the pass, a night of frustration as wekas kept attempt-ing to steal our stuff. I woke up in the middle of the night to hear Sim laughing - a weka was actually drag-ging my jacket away that had been under the tent!

We had been warned to get the tides right for the passage through French Pass, but for some reason it always seems so uninviting to get up in the dark to pack up and put on wet gear to get going. When we fi nally did get on the water, we arrived at the pass only to see a huge tidal stream pouring through. It was impossible to paddle against, so we opted for dragging our boats up the southern shore. It wasn’t actually as bad as it sounds. After about fi ve minutes, we were past the worst of it and able to resume paddling. Making our way to

The South Island in Winter

( winterkayakers.blogspot.co.nz)

2 August 2012 update: from TaraMulvany and Sim Grigg - their at-tempt at a fi rst circumnavigtion of

the South Island in winter.

Since arriving in Picton on Sunday afternoon, we have been waiting for the weather to get better for our next push south. Our focus this week has been on eating, as much as we can, whilst watching the Olympics - mean! Here’s a wee update on our latest adventures; pretty boring re-ally with no rolling, no surf landings and no more ‘time apart’.

We left from Stephens Bay (edge of Abel Tasman NP) on 24 July in drizzly conditions, aiming for Cable Bay about 35 kms across Tasman Bay. About an hour into our cross-ing, a south-east wind picked up and the clouds blocked all visibility of where we were heading for.

After some ‘discussion’ on our direc-tion I rummaged through Sim’s back hatch and pulled out a compass. We blindly paddled into the driving rain for hours, catching glimpses of the far side between the squalls of - ahh, sunny Nelson. About seven hours later, I made a sprint fi nish to a small

Alligator Head, we dodged dolphins and penguins for much of the day.

Rounding Cape Jackson the next morning, we cruised along with a following wind conditions. I’m sure Paul Caffyn would have described it as a corker of a day. Arriving on dusk near the entrance to the Tory Channel, we dodged the Interisland-er (see colour photo on p.24) and pulled up on a farm where we were lucky to met Joe and Joy - legends!

They let us sleep in their woolshed and gave us a shower - I didn’t real-ize we smelt that bad! It’s awesome how many amazing people we have bumped into along the way. Rarangi down near Blenheim was our next port of call. There, Sim’s uncle Rich-ard picked us and our boats up and took us back to their home in Picton.

24 August 2012Kaikoura down to Banks Peninsula: From Tara:

We have been pretty slack about posting lately so I thought it was about time we got a wee update up. We arrived into Christchurch about a week go. It was a such a long day, the day (or night) we arrived! We launched from a beach at Motunau (about 80 kms north of Christch-urch) in four metre swells. We soon realized that landing during the day was not an option, so we made the call to push on all the way to Sum-ner. I got sea-sick for most of the day and it got worse after it got dark. The Waimakariri River mouth was by far the scariest thing we have seen this whole trip - all the riv-ers were in massive fl ood and there were huge fi ve metre high breaking waves stretching out to about 2 kms offshore!

Later on, we got smoked in the dark by a few smaller breakers way off-shore. Sim’s hat got pushed down over his eyes so he couldn’t see any-thing. He just had to keep paddling in case there was a second breaker behind it. I was as slow as.

We didn’t land at the Sumner launching ramp until 12.30 am. Six-teen hours in a kayak is not ideal! I

Paddling NewsNew Zealand

Tara with loss of visibility during the Tasman Bay crossing. Photo: Sim Grigg

No. 160 August - September 2012

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The South Island is getting pounded by some intense weather at the mo-ment, and I’m afraid that it’s a mark of the beginning of the unsettled spring weather. But I plan to head back up to Akaroa and get paddling south as soon as the seas die down. Hopefully I’ll get some nice north easterlies! People often ask me how long I expect it to take to get back to Milford? I really don’t know. I’m in no hurry as my focus at this stage is just completing the trip. It’s looking like Stewart Island is going to have to wait for another time, which I’m happy about. So from here to Mil-ford, progress will no doubt be slow, but I’m cool with that.

If anyone wants to come for a paddle with me, that would be awesome! Flick me a message, my cell number is: (022) 198 7951

19 September 2012Phone update from Tara at

Caroline Bay, TimaruTara was sounding quite chirpy on the phone, as indeed she was near-ing the end of the dreaded bumper dumper coastal zone south from Banks Peninsula to Moeraki.

After the unfortunate parting of the ways with Sim at Christchurch, Tara paddled solo around the top half of Banks Peninsula to Akaroa. After a second good break, she headed around the bottom (southern side) of Banks Peninsula, not looking for-ward to landing at Birdlings Flat.

This next long stretch of coast has no sheltered lee landings, just a very steep gravel beach, broken only rare-ly by strongly fl owing river mouths, and guarded closely by exceedingly powerful bumper dumpers which, at high tide and with a good ground swell, are fully capable of breaking both boats and bodies.

If you need a more graphic reminder of these wretched bumper dumpers, two colour photos on p. 2 of the Oc-tober-November 2007 KASK news-letter (No. 131) show Freya attempt-ing to breakout with the on-shore assistance of Martin Fraser and JKA. The top photo shows Freya dwarfed by a huge breaker – the second

dragged my boat up onto the boat ramp and lay down on the ground for a few minutes before throwing up one last time. We grabbed our tent and headed into the kid’s playground park in Sumner and slept in a bush - still no freedom camping fi nes!

We are planning on taking a wee break from paddling for a week to re-fuel our energy levels and make sure that we are good to go for the next gnarly leg down from Banks Penin-sula to Oamaru. Its looking like we are going to get to claim the slowest circumnavigation- awesome!

6 September 2012 From Tara:Our expedition has come to a turning point and Sim and I have decided to go our separate ways, which means that I will be continuing on this jour-ney alone. Attempting to paddle around the South Island in winter was never going to be an easy un-dertaking, and although we started out about three months ago now, we have only managed to paddle about 37 of those days. Exciting weather on the West Coast made progress slow, and on several occasions we were trapped onshore for a week at a time, as huge seas pounded the coast.

Paul Caffyn had said from the start that it was never going to be easy, and our lack of daylight hours in the middle of winter left very little room for error. Luckily we managed to survive only three night surf land-ings, and at times like this, it’s al-ways a great peace of mind to know that you’re not alone - no matter how little it actually makes the situation any better!

It has been awesome to have shared the majority of this trip with Sim, who amazingly managed to conquer the entire West Coast, only taking three rolls - that is if you exclude when he got ‘Heaphy’ed’. I think it’s important to recognize Sim’s achievement, having paddled nearly 3/4 of the way around the South Is-land in winter (that is if you include the Te Waewae Bay to Milford sec-tion we paddled last winter). So a big thanks to Sim, you are a legend!

shows JKA, looking into the face of the broken wave for any sign of the fraulein in the white water.

Although Tara had planned to land at the last sheltered bay on the penin-sula, the weather and sea conditions were so good she continued south for a ‘no worries’ landing some 10 kms south of Birdlings Flat. Next day she found a strong north-going cur-rent slowing her progress, but Tara managed to avoid a bumper dumper landing by paddling in to the Rakaia River mouth between breaking sets on the bar.

The forecast for the following day was for a 35 knot SW front to come through late morning, so Tara decid-ed to stay put for the day. She had an entertaining afternoon, sitting inside her tent holding the poles, as huge gusts and pounding rain tried to rip the tent to pieces.

The following evening she had a dicey landing into a metre wide only stream mouth. On 19 September,

South of Banks Peninsula, the gravel beach and steep berm, with

attendant bumper dumper breakers which go on, and on and on.

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

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Tara cruised into a lovely lee landing at Caroline Bay, and after the phone catch-up, she was off to fi nd some pizza. On her blog, Tara noted: ‘I ate a foot-long subway and two large pizzas in the space of an hour, it was awesome.’

22 September 2012 Phone update from Tara

On 20 September, Tara launched be-fore dawn at 6 am and in a big day paddled until just on dark when she found her target river mouth – the Waihao River – was not suitable for a landing. Fortunately Tara pulled off a cracker landing, going in on the back of a big bumper dumper which got her right up to the top of the beach’s berm.

South of the Rakaia Rivermouth, the steep gravel beach is backed by cliffs cut into fl uvioglacial gravels, which go on, and on, and on.

Sim’s dad helped Tara launch near the Waihao River mouth. As he crests the gravel berm, he looks like he is surfi ng on top of a bumper dumper.

On 21 September, Tara had excellent conditions for a long day past the last of the bumper dumper gravel beaches, and reached Moeraki by nightfall. Next day, in another long day without landing, Tara went wide of the north Otago coast in a beeline for Spit Beach at the entrance to Otago Harbour.

Although feeling ‘pretty destroyed’ after landing, with a light NE tail-wind on 23 September, Tara had another big day and reached the Taieri Mouth, south of Dunedin, where strong northerly winds and some gnarly weather will allow her a day or two to recover. She is still very keen to complete this ‘winter’ South Island circumnavigation back to Milford.

See also Tara’s colour photos on page 23 - a dawn passage out of Otago Harbour, and passing the vertical cliffs south of Taiaroa Head.

Tara’s kayak safely ashore, just inside the entrance to Otago Harbour. The Taiaroa Head

lighthouse just visible on the distant headland.

OVERSEAS PADDLING NEWS

‘Oskar Speck Retrace Expedition’ -

Iran Misses Outby Sandy Robson

On May 13 2012, I fl ew to Germany and picked up my new folding kayak as well as a kayak trolley that would be essential for carting the two fold-ing kayaks through Europe. I made a presentation in Ulm on the 14th and then was soon on my way to Buda-pest where I would meet Jugo (my expedition partner).

I caught the overnight train to get to Budapest from Germany. I thought the train conductor was going to re-fuse me passage to Budapest from Munich due to the large amount of luggage (two folding kayaks and my pack as well as a paddle bag), but af-

ter some talking I was able to pay a little extra and he gave me a private cabin, one side of which I could put my luggage and the other side where I could sleep and ease the jetlag - perfect.

By midday, next day I was sitting by the Danube in Budapest and drink-ing a German Beer with Jugo and a local kayaker Thamas. Everything was great. We were on our way to Belgrade next to collect our permis-sion for Iran.

My Iranian contact at the canoeing federation had sent word the pre-vious day that everything was ar-ranged and now approved - we had been waiting several months for that outcome. He instructed us to collect the visa for Jugo and the permission for the expedition from Belgrade.

However, once we arrived in Bel-grade, the things were not there at the embassy so we decided it would be best to keep travelling east and pick it all up at the embassy in An-kara a week later.

Sandy

No. 160 August - September 2012

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Freya Hoffmeister around South America by Kayak

The German fraulein who has cir-cumnavigated Iceland, New Zea-land’s South Island and Australia (with a huge short-cut and two kay-aks) is now continuing with the sec-ond stage of her circumnavigation of South America.

In September 2011, Freya began her trip to become the fi rst person to pad-dle the entire coastline of the South American continent. The 48-year-old business owner and mother of a 16-year-old boy from Husum, Ger-many, set off from Buenos Aires, Argentina in the middle of the east coast.

Paddling clockwise, she headed south on the Atlantic Ocean towards Cape Horn, around Tierra del Fue-go and headed north on the Pacifi c coast. Freya ended her fi rst stage in Valparaiso, the main harbour just off Santiago de Chile, having paddled roughly 8,000 km in eight months.

Starting from Valparaiso on 25 Au-gust 2012, Freya will head north along the west coast passing the mountainous countries of Peru and Ecuador. After crossing the equa-tor, she’ll pass Colombia, paddle through the Panama Canal, around the rest of Colombia, through Ven-ezuela and end her second stage in Georgetown, Guyana, after another 8,000 km and about eight months of paddling.

Her fi nal stage will commence in September 2013 and takes Freya past the tropical countries of Suri-name, Guyana, Brazil and Uruguay then back south to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Freya will fi nish that last 8,000 km stage just in time for her 50th birthday in May 2014.

Freya is now paddling with her Dan-ish boyfriend Peter, and as of 24 September 2012 is up to Day 278 of her amazing trip.

Freya’s website:freyahoffmeister.com/freyas-blog/

We went to Fethiye in Turkey and spent the weekend with my friend Sally. This was our fi rst time pad-dling our folding kayaks. We made a day trip near Fethiye and it was great to see how much Jugo was im-pressed by the Turkish coast. It real-ly is spectacular. Sally was paddling with us in the Lettmann Magellan that I paddled last year, so my new boat got to meet my old boat.

After the relaxing weekend, we were off back to Ankara to face the bu-reaucracy again - I popped on my hijab each day and we walked from my friend’s apartment to the Iranian consulate on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

We thought on the Wednesday that it would all come through as arranged, so we were in shock when they re-fused us. Not the outcome we ex-pected, and after that I was unable to get any email replies from my con-tact in Iran, so we still have no idea what happened. Except now we had travelled all this way and were not going to be able to paddle the Per-sian Gulf – bummer - or maybe it is the best for our safety.

Prestigious Freya Pose Photo Competition

Evan Pugh ‘kindly’ sent me this link (http://gokayaknow.com/), with two skinny blokes clad in only their slinky, black undies and sunglasses, while holding paddles in a pose to emulate my copyrighted ‘Freya’ pose, the cover photograph that is the most outstanding photo of a very lean se-lection of photos in Joe Glickman’s Fearless. (see photo top of p.9)

I am devastated that two ‘blokes’ and an even less honourable photogra-pher would seek to copy my glorious Freya photo pose on her tippy toes with two paddles. Freya was only after a good photograph for her pad-dle sponsor, but after I tied Freya up to her paddle (“Zis rope is not thick enough Paul,”), the mistakes I made were twofold – untying Freya from the paddle and giving her a copy of The Dreamtime Voyage.

With my claim for damages and legal expenses to the photographer’s blog-site unanswerable, as I was unable to fi nd this philanderer’s email ad-dress who copied my stunning Freya pose, what I propose in retribution, is an international Freya style cover pose photo competition for which I will award a copy of The Dreamtime Voyage to the most imaginative and provocative photograph emailed to: kayakpc@xtra.co.nz

The winning photo and runner-ups, to be judged by Paul Caffyn and David Winkworth, will appear in the NZ Sea Canoeist. Paddles may be used for covering naughty bits, and I better not set rules as to size of paddle blades. The highly esteemed judges will be seeking a percentage of international reproduction rights.

When I approached a professional Christchurch newspaper photogra-pher/paddler to join the judging pan-el, he turned me down on the grounds he wanted to submit a photo for the competition. When asked if criteria were necessary for photo submission, I was shocked and fl abbergasted by this chap’s response: “Viewing of the winning Freya pose, while spooning

Sandy Robson training for wearing her hijab in Iran. You can tell from her eyes that she is grinning like a Cheshire Cat. Photo: P. Caffyn

Sandy’s website:www.sandy-robson.com

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

9

For those discerning readers of the NZ Sea Canoeist, who have yet to scan the skimpy narrative of Freya’s paddle around Aussie, the stunning cover photo is not anywhere on the moderately long length of the West Island’s coast, but is in fact taken with Freya braced against a late Cre-taceous age remnant of coal measure conglomerate, which has survived the onslaught of coastal erosion, midway up the West Coast of the South Island.

down a breakfast of porridge, should lead to such a reaction that milky por-ridge shoots out one nostril.”

For absolute authenticity, with extra marks awarded by the 12 Mile judge, photos should be taken against the ‘Freya Rock.’ Several weeks ago, I was taken aback by the unannounced arrival of a paddler from New York who was a mate of Joe Glickman, the author of Fearless. This bloke want-ed to visit the site where the stunning cover photo of Fearless was taken, and take a photograph.

Examples by way of suitable poses, are shown on this page, along with the scandalous photo of two blokes whose arm and shoulder muscles are not a patch on those of Freya.

No. 160 August - September 2012

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rafts. Dave stopped momentarily to watch a wee blue penguin.

Everyone arrived at the Nydia Bay DoC Lodge landing by 3.30 pm, this being quite a swift trip with only 10 - 15 minutes between the fi rst and last paddlers. Nydia Lodge is amazing with hot showers, a large gas hob, generator powered lights and sleep-ing facilities for 50.

It was interesting to observe so many cooks in the kitchen at one time and all trying use the gas hob. However this somehow worked out and more or less everyone dined together and enjoyed a convivial evening, sharing stories, getting to know each other and forming plans for the free day ahead.

Without a doubt everyone did enjoy the rare luxury of hot showers in the DoC Lodge and what a difference it made climbing into your sleeping bag and feeling clean.

Sunday, being another great weather day, a large group set off to conquer Nydia Saddle and hopefully gain a view of Tennyson Inlet. Some pad-dled across the bay whilst others chose to walk. Some returned with high praise for the hospitality and good food provided at the On the Track Lodge, just 30 minutes walk from the DoC Lodge.

Monday morning. Martin cranked up the generator at 6 am. A quick

Canterbury Sea Kayak Network Trip

Nydia Bay, Queens Birthday 2012

by Robert Rainsbury

With a fantastic weather forecast for the weekend, 22 keen Cantabrian and Nelsonian kayakers met at Dou-ble Bay in Mahau Sound on a chilly Saturday morning. The sea was very calm and the three Dusky dolphins fi shing close to shore seemed to be a good omen for the 6th annual trip to Nydia Bay.

Martin Fraser, our very capable trip organizer, gave the trip briefi ng and without further ado we headed out into the Sound. We were led out by Dave - Martin brought up the rear.

After hastily crossing the main ship-ping lane, we proceeded to Pipi Beach. Many of us had hoped to see more dolphins but alas there were none to be seen. Apart from the oc-casional wake from passing boats and a slight head wind it was an easy paddle. The day was warming up nicely and everyone enjoyed a sun-ny lunch break at Pipi Beach, a rare event by all counts.

After a short paddle we started the long grind, for some, up Nydia Bay, whilst others raced ahead and some weaved their way among the mussel

breakfast was had by the Cantabrians whilst the Nelsonians, with a lot less distance to travel, decided to settle for a later departure time. This alle-viated the congestion in the kitchen plus they kindly offered to clean up which allowed the fi rst group to pack up and be on the water by 8 am.

Monday was a bit cooler but the sea was calm and the sunrise was glori-ous. In spite of the tide being against us everyone made good time to Pipi Beach and stopped for a short, cool morning tea break.

After leaving Pipi Beach we fol-lowed the Sound around, waited for a launch to pass and then crossed to Double Bay, which ended in a race. We arrived back at 11.30 am. Martin made the comment that we had the best weather he could remember for the Nydia Bay trip.

This was perfect weekend weather wise, it was excellent paddling and the company was good. We were very lucky because on Wednes-day morning we awoke to snow in Christchurch.

See also three colour photos of this trip, taken by Brenda Rainsbury: the cover

photo and both pics on page 2.

Below: Early Morning Departure from Nydia Bay.

Photo Brenda Rainsbury

New Zealand Trip Report

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

11

the bush, getting back to work a day late to a derisive ‘a likely tale’. The next year I decided to ‘go with the fl ow’ and go apple picking (this was the 70s) and took my kayak and dog down to Motueka. Out with the local canoe club, I saw many a boat turned into two or be-come banana-shaped on the Riwaka and Motueka rivers. (That’s where I gained my duct-taping bandaging skills Charlie!) Strangely, this was no deterrent to going solo on some exciting trips.

The most memorable were the Gowan and Buller rivers. My equip-

ment was one kayak (homemade fi berglass), one paddle (homemade wooden), one spray skirt (homemade nylon and cord), one lifejacket. My idea of safety was having my elderly Aunt and her daughter drive along the riverside road, catching glimps-es of me hurtling by until I met the Buller, when I hurtled out.

Moving north, I continued my study and became a responsible salary earner, married Ian and then we went into business together. The kayak got coated more often in dust than wa-ter for about two decades. Then my niece Rachel gave me the kick-start needed. We spent fi ve days pottering around the Abel Tasman National Park – paddling a hired double in the mornings, setting up camp and tramping in the afternoons. I was in heaven. A year or so later, still han-kering after paddling a ‘proper’ (sea) kayak again, I trotted off to see Pete Townend at the Canoe & Kayak shop on Constellation Drive. I tried out an Albatross, a Breeze and settled on a Storm. This was December 1996. Although I did an Introductory Skills Course (remembering my hairy past experiences) and joined the Yakity Yak club (for the discount), I didn’t go on my fi rst club trip till October 2000, when a note on the shop door advertised a week-long trip at Great Barrier Island.

On most Yakity Yak club trips, there’s an introduction where people state their name, which club they be-long to, and how long they have been paddling for. I usually say I’m from the Kawau Island club, affi liated to the North Shore Club, which draws a few laughs. But I’m embarrassed to put a fi gure on how long ago I started paddling - some people I paddle with weren’t even born then!

This is how it happened, a genera-tion or so ago. One Friday night in the mid-late 1970s, the mould bor-rowed from the Auckland Canoe Club, the fi berglass raw materials, red dye, masking tape, face masks were sitting there ready. The potting shed at the nursery where I worked was all scrubbed out and clean. Ben, a tramping club friend, was prepared to give up a weekend - we were organized, raring to go and began ‘painting’ layer after layer onto the moulds.

By Sunday eve, the two pieces were joined together, the join disguised with tape, the deck adorned with a ‘lightning fl ash.’ The footrest was hack sawed from a piece of irriga-tion pipe and held in place with bent nails, allowing for adjustment for different leg lengths. Polystyrene from someone’s stereo packaging, was stuffed fore and aft for buoyan-cy. The paddle was assembled. One piece of dowelling carefully cut to allow two bits of shaped board for the blades to be slotted in and glued. Painted red. Complete.

The following weekend’s trials proved my ‘red devil’ seaworthy and agile. She could spin on a sixpence and I could now join the Waikato Tramping club’s ‘splinter’ group of paddlers. Whangamata, Waihi for the excitement of surf, and the Wai-kato River or Raglan Harbour for lazy Sunday jaunts. Lake Tarawera threw a tantrum one weekend and we had to admit defeat. Exhausted and hungry we had a miserable night in

My First Kayak

by Ruth E. Henderson

Ruth, with Zac as bow lookout, on her work-horse Cobra Explorer.Photo: John Crawford

Ruth, with Zac, relaxing at home.Photo: John Crawford

No. 160 August - September 2012

12

My fi rst Yakity Yak trip included my fi rst 35 knot winds, my fi rst two metre swell and my fi rst breaking waves. Two years later I went on Chris Gulley’s inaugural ‘Around Auckland Paddle and Portage’ kayak challenge and had my fi rst succes-sive 25 km days to prove to myself (and Ian) that I was fi t enough for a two week kayaking and tramping trip to Alaska.

We were at the time living on Kawau Island, and I used my Storm a bit like a bicycle – for errands, for vis-iting folk, but not for ‘long’ jaunts. I phoned Gordy Dagleish, the trip leader and he scared the pants off me with, “You’ll have to be able to pad-dle up to six hours a day and cope with 20 knot winds.” But it was the challenge I needed. I worked out a ‘training plan’ for the next six weeks and by ‘GBI–day’, I was ready.

That was in 2002. I sold my Storm and bought a second hand Southern Skua in 2003. I got another one, a new red one in 2005. And then I add-ed a work-horse Cobra Explorer in 2007. I now have a fl eet of four. Yes-terday I went on a paddle on Kawau Bay, around ‘The Beehive’ - see pic-ture at top left - and had a dozen dol-phins inspect me. This weekend I’m leading a weekend trip that includes a moonlit paddle. I think I’m hooked - what do you reckon?

The Beehive. Photo: Ruth Henderson Ruth kitted up for a scenario day of training at a Coastbusters.

KASK KAYAK KALENDARMARLBOROUGH SOUNDS PILGRIMAGE17 - 18 November 2012 (please note date change)Venue: Ratimera BayDress: Comic Book HeroesSouth Island contact: Paul Caffyn: kayakpc@xtra.co.nzNorth Island contact: Conrad Edwards: conrad@conradedwards.net(contacts are in case of an outrageous weather forecast cancellation)

Sound’s Pilgrimages are an infor-mal gathering of paddlers at a re-mote location in the sounds, with side paddling trips on the Saturday and Sunday, while the highlight is a formal(ish) dinner with dress-ups taking place from 6pm on Saturday. The group below were dressed up for Dancing with the Stars. (2007)

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

13

by Doug AitkenTo join up you have to be a Facebook member.

It’s easy and free.Once you’re on to Facebook, search for Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers,

and once you’ve found the page click on ‘join group’. An administrator has to approve your request – a good way

to stop unwanted people joining for whatever reason.

There are almost 40 people in the group already and it hasn’t been advertised until now – so let’s hope it gets good use. If you can’t fi nd the page, try typing in:

www.facebook.com/groups/kiwiassociationofseakayakers/ or email me

douglasaitken@hotmail.comand I’ll send you an invite to join the group

One of KASK’s aims is to encourage the sport of Sea Kayaking and this Facebook page is done with this in mind. You don’t have to be a KASK member to join up; just interested in sea kayaking.

Hopefully it will encourage people to join KASK.

Facebook is great for sharing photos, videos and internet links, but can also be used as a discussion forum if you want to post a question or comment. There is a good discussion at

the time of writing about building wooden boats.

If you go to the ‘notifi cations’ tab near the top of the page you can select if you get all messages that are posted on the Facebook page delivered to your e mail, or just the messages that people that you are ‘friends’ with post,

or no messages at all.

It would be great if the different networks around the country could post a few photos of trips they do so the rest of us can see what others are up to. This has started happening already which is great.

So please go on the site, tell others, scroll down and have a look at the photos, videos and comments, and join up!

Doug Aitken

KASK ON FACEBOOK

No. 160 August - September 2012

14

still fl oating around in the tide. I had enough sand in my hair to get a small rock pool started and my dignity was as tattered as the tendrils of seaweed adorning my head and body.

Lesson learned: NEVER try to surf in front of a crowd.

Evan’s ‘Bugger!’ Moments “Bugger!” - Isn’t that what the dog said on the Toyota TV advertise-ment. I have said it or maybe a tad worse a few times.

Like the time I slid my fully loaded kayak down a steep bank on the Kai-tuna River, after fi nding it wasn’t such a good camp spot, and my kayak got away from me so I had to swim after it! It was also 4.30 pm in July brrrrrr!. I found another camp spot and got sorted, but none of my paddle gear was dry and there was a frost the next morning!

Or the time when I was trying to catch up to others near the Mount. It took me a while to realize my pad-dle fl oat, which is tied on deck, had come loose in the surf and was act-ing like a sea anchor, causing plenty of drag, I managed to catch up after that.

Then there was Shark Alley - teach-ing surf landings etc. When I got out, I was end-oed on my fi rst wave, I’m sure it was ‘Bugger!’ I said.

And there’s more:Kawau Island coming back to the kayaks and mine was gone - drifted off with the incoming tide - drifted to the next little rocky outcrop. But I managed to get it back before anyone else noticed (so keep it quiet please).

Queen Charlotte Sound - sitting in my kayak after we had lunch on a jetty and saying who’s the idiot that left their PFD on the jetty – great! It was mine as it got pointed out to me by my so-called mates after some photos were taken it got handed to me.

Rowena’s ‘Bugger!’ Moments

Bugger Moment No. 1Paddling with a group off Mimi-whangata, I was having a lesson in rock gardening. The day involved shooting in and out of huge rock canyons while the sea swooshed in and out alarmingly. Everything pro-gressed according to plan and, until my attention seeking moment, the only minor casualty was when one of the punters, on a semi-controlled blast through a gap, T-boned an in-structor (who shall remain name-less). The instructor was then able to give an excellent demonstration of re-entry techniques.

Anyway, I digress. Heading back into (relatively) much calmer water, yours truly saw a gap which beck-oned. A quick look around and in I went.

To my horror, at the point of no re-turn, the sea level dropped suddenly and I knew something was coming which I really didn’t want to meet.

The wave picked me up and surfed me over several metres of rocks be-fore dumping me unceremoniously into a deepish pool. Bow and stern of boat were wedged and I was upside down admiring the seaweed.Bugger!

Wet exit for me, careful extrication of kayak which suffered only minor damage, and a short wait for things to settle down before shooting back through the gap and into the safety of open water.

Lesson learned: Timing is everything!

Bugger Moment No. 2Coming into Cathedral Cove with its usual quota of a thousand tour-ists enjoying the beach. This place has a tricky little shore dump, which caught, upended and deposited me high and dry on the beach in front of a delighted audience. Kayak, pad-dle, hat and other sundry items were

KAYAK KALENDARKASK FORUM 2013

8 - 10 March 2013

Raglan - West Coast North Island

A superb venue by Raglan Harbour has been booked, and the location

offers excellent on the water instruc-tion venues, both inside and outside

the harbour.

If you are keen to offer instruction sessions or indoor presentations, please get in touch with the plan-

ning team (via email) with:Evan Pugh:

sheepskinsnstuff@xtra.co.nzJohn Hesseling:

john.hesseling@bouldercni.co.nzJohn Gumbley:

gumbleyj@wave.co.nz

The last newsletter (No. 159) car-ried a four page centrefold Forum registration form; the form is also

downloadable from the KASK website.

Evan Pugh is really tough on not taking late registrations, not to men-tion the cut-off once 100 paddlers

have registered.

So do not delay if you intend attending.

Forum Foto CompetitionEntries are only for those paddlers

attending the forum. Five categories with up to three entries per category. For more info, see the last newslet-

ter with the registration form.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

THE MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS PILGRIMAGE

Please Note the Date ChangeDate: 17 - 18 November

Destination: Ratimera Bay Dress: Comic Book Heroes

South Island contact:Paul Caffyn: kayakpc@xtra.co.nz

North Island contact:Conrad Edwards:

conrad@conradedwards.net

The ‘Bugger! File

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

15

you can feel your kayak rise as they pass underneath you. And their sing-ing! The other day our kayaks were actually vibrating to the underwater singing of whales possibly 50 metres below us. Very special!

A Close CallAs in NZ, water temperature in south-east Australian waters at the moment is still cool and that’s espe-cially so in our lakes and rivers.

There was a close call recently for a racing ski paddler in Lake Burley Griffi n in Canberra. It was the clas-sic tale of an accident waiting to hap-pen. I’ll run through a couple of the points:

- a very strong westerly wind boring down the lake – air temp of about 10˚C– water temp of 7˚C – ski paddler in light gear and not dressed for the conditions – no PFD, no signalling devices, no paddle leash, no grab holds (decklines etc) on the ski.

He capsized and kept hold of his paddle. Unfortunately though, his ski blew away!

Luckily he was spotted in trouble by a tourist with binoculars, who called 000. It was the fi re brigade who ar-rived fi rst! They found a boat and went out for him. When they picked him up after 40 minutes in the wa-ter, he was unable to talk. I’d say he didn’t have long to go.Good lesson there?

West Island Bits September 2012

David Winkworth

Spring PaddlingOne thing that characterizes Spring paddling over here in Aussie would have to be wind…and lots of it! We’ve taken paddlers out to sea a few times this month and cut the paddle short due to wind. But, that’s just the way it is here at the moment. We’re getting our usual strong westerlies and our NE sea breeze often cuts in on a warm day as the land heats up.

It’s pretty good if you can pick it and tailor the paddle accordingly but it doesn’t always come off! A couple of us paddled north recently, expect-ing a NE sea breeze to surf home on. We battled against the building wind for a few hours, looking forward to our reward. After a cuppa in a little estuary, we returned to sea….and the NE wind died away completely!

Whales are another feature of Spring on the southeast coast of Australia. During October and November, hun-dreds of Humpback and Southern Right whales travel south along our coast with their young, heading for Antarctic waters. It’s pretty special to be near them in a kayak! At times

Staying TogetherGreat to read Tara and Sim’s account of their winter paddle around the South Island. Getting separated for fi ve days is pretty remarkable isn’t it!

Brings to mind the dilemma of get-ting a group of paddlers out through the surf at the start of a day’s paddle.

Do you send out the weaker pad-dlers fi rst with the view that if they can’t get out through the surf, then the group might as well stay in camp till the seas subside? Of course, you could send out the stronger paddlers fi rst. However, if they get out and THEN the weaker paddlers can’t…..well the paddlers out there have to come back, don’t they!

Quite a few years ago I did a paddle with a few friends along the south-ern coast of Tasmania. We had our share of wind and a few days of huge swells which locked us in.

One morning at our South Cape Rivulet camp we planned to paddle north for Cockle Creek. Up early, we walked out to the beach for a look at the seas. The surf was impressive and I think there was some nervous-ness in the group - but we all thought we’d make it out. ‘Back to camp for breakfast and pack up, which prob-ably took us about an hour I suppose.

In that time however, the surf had piled up considerably and it was big, white and very noisy when we pad-dled out of the creek mouth.

W t I l d Bit

Overseas Reports

A view over Dave’s bow of a Humpback whale sounding.

No. 160 August - September 2012

16

Setting RecordsHave you noticed increased refer-ences to record setting in sea kaya-king? Our editor wrote about it re-cently and I thought I’d expand on Paul’s words.

So, what is it with setting records in sea kayaks? Can you claim a record for a crossing or a circumnavigation if no-one wants to race you? Can you set a record in a packed fi eld of one? Is it really legitimate to claim a sea kayak-ing record in the outdoors when we’re all at the mercy of the elements?

Setting records can be a little danger-ous too. History is littered with ill-fat-ed record attempts - Scott, Kingsford Smith, our own Andrew McAuley. The White Star Line thought a record time crossing of the Atlantic would be great advertising for their Titanic. They set a record all right!

I recall a recent DVD – Into the Wind – the fi lm of a couple of experienced English paddlers claiming a record for a circumnavigation of Ireland.

“Ohh, this is not good,” I thought.

Pete, one of our group, elected to try exiting the surf in the rip against the rocky headland. We saw him cap-size, exit his kayak and get carried straight out into the big surf - and he disappeared from view.

“Can you see Pete?” I shouted to Geoff, as we held position in the surge.“He’s effi ng gone!” came the reply.We both feared that this was going to be an EPIRB set-off situation.“What happens if we can’t all get out through this?” called Geoff.“The one’s who get out,” I said, “will have to come back!”“That’s good enough for me!” shout-ed Geoff, wheeling his kayak around and heading for the beach.

Luckily, Pete hit the rocks and man-aged to stay put till we got to him. He’d smashed his kayak but not himself. We repaired his boat and paddled out of there two days later.

Sit-on-Top Self-RescueA friend recently bought a new sit-on-top (SOT) kayak and brought it along to one of our pool rolling nights. He was keen to practice re-enters and any other skills we could show him.

Typically, Sit-on Tops (SOTs) are very beamy with lots of freeboard and that makes successful re-enters quite diffi cult for paddlers. Re-en-ters for my friend were OK in the pool shallow end where he could launch off the bottom but when I took him to the deep end of the pool he needed three of more attempts each time to re-enter, after which he was exhausted. AND, that was with-out the encumbrance of a bulky PFD or fi shing gear secured to the craft….and in calm warm water! Look, I know we don’t regard SOTs as kayaks but the public and the me-dia do…and that makes it important for us! This summer, as you paddle around, go and chat with an occa-sional SOT paddler you see. Ask them if they have a paddle leash and if they’ve done self rescue-practice. Your chat could save a life.

I saw footage of them quaffi ng pints of Guinness in a pub and talking of, “getting their fi ngers out” on the next day’s paddle. I yelled at the TV: “Get out of the pub and get out there now!”

I remember them waving away pad-dling one day because it was foggy! Really! It wasn’t a record set, it was a circumnavigation in fast boats by two good paddlers and the claim was used to fl og the video. Big deal!

Do we really care about records in sea kayaking? I mean, sea kayaks are NOT racing boats, but perhaps the lines are a little more blurred these days with sleek new models appear-ing on the market.

I leave you with a fi nal thought on record setting: We love our sea kaya-king don’t we!...... the waves, the beaches, the surfi ng, the sun, the camping, the solitude and more.So why do we want to race and come home early?

Dave Winkworth

Almost there, with a 3rd attempt to climb back onto the sit-on-top.Photo: Dave Winkworth

Record Setting - the October 2012 Sea Kayaker’s ‘Last Glance’ photograph is titled ‘Pond Paddling’. It shows a bloke in a very small, inland Alaskan pond, barely longer than his fi breglass sea kayak. The caption reads:

Jared Foster made what is believed to be the fi rst solo crossing of an unnamed pond in the muskeg alongside the tracks of the tram portage on Alaska’s Admi-ralty Island. The actual distance paddled in the 21-foot crossing was somewhat diminished by his kayak’s 15-foot waterline, but the achievement is nonetheless one not likely to be repeated in the years to come.

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

17

shoulders of his coat full of air up round his ears as a sort of personal buoyancy device. Jack Levison, six feet plus, acted as a human crane and lifted the overcoat and John back on to the stage. We asked John why was he in the water? He replied that he wanted to see the wiggly worms. There were leeches in the eddies. The launch of our PBK 20 was al-most sacrifi cial. Downstream 50 yards was a foaming weir. Even now I cringe.

Bit by bit I learned to use the PBK 20. We were camping near the beach at Beadnell in Northumberland. We arrived on the empty site and started to lift the PBK 20 off the roof. Joan had one end, I the other. There was a squawk and a crunch from the other end, Joan was fl at, supine, the canoe bow off to one side. I had forgotten that the tent, a large one, was in the cockpit. It was Easter, clear blue sky, beautiful beach and the kids loved it. At their bedtime they were washed and the face fl annel left on the side of the bell tent. Next morning it was frozen hard to the tent. The children were nowhere in sight. I went off at speed to the beach where they were happily building sand castles. Later that summer we were at Old Durham Gardens about a quarter mile from the river. A student resi-dent was about to wash his car. We asked him if there were any pools near into which John could fall? He said no. We walked round the corner and very soon the student appeared with John who was soaked from knees to middle. He had backed in to the bucket. John has an affi nity with water. Twenty years later John was building river kayaks in GRP in Tovdal, Norway, involved with a social group of kayakers. One young

HISTORY

BEGINNINGS by Alan Byde

The longest journey starts with one small step. This is how I became a sea kayaker. It starts in a school ten thousand miles away. Today Paul Caffyn sent me an email and this was my reply: Next historic venture? Probably how I started to build a PBK 20 and how we used it as a family. I haven’t writ-ten this up previously, all new and very old. I invite my Muse to consid-er this and I think she smiles upon it.

When I get going I am merely a key presser, the drive is way beyond. It is interesting how a passing comment can reveal a new direction. When I read your email I thought “What can I send him that isn’t a hoary relic?” A new beginning, the story of the old beginning. It was all inland wa-ter at the start which opened to the sea. There was freedom then, the BCU slept in its Royal cot and the ignoranti boldly went where few had gone before. The coastguards called us the Birmingham Navy. Birming-ham in England is far from the sea. Bill Saunders and Bill Cramond of-fered an evening class in how to build a barge. My neighbour Peter Welby suggested we apply. We did. It wasn’t a barge but it felt like that. Length 15 feet, beam 32 inches, windage horrible.

That was September 1957. On 11/01/1958 family and friends as-sembled on Durham School landing one Sunday morning to launch it. The river Wear was fl owing fast and high as snow in the distant hills thawed.

Our son John was two and a bit a sturdy youth with a questing mind. He wore a brown woollen teddy bear overcoat, a size large, hem at the ankle, belted at the middle and but-toned to the chin. There was a faint plop in the rushing surge of the river. There was a moment when I saw im-perturbable John drifting by with the

lady said “You are a legend in your own time John.” (Hard ‘g’)

There was a brief attempt at sea ca-noeing at Beadnell in Northumber-land. Both children were with me in the PBK 20, a short way off the shore crowded with holidaymakers. It was afternoon, there was a gen-tle breeze off the shore. Although I cruised to and fro just inside the breaking waves which were quite small, I could stay there, unable to go ashore as the breeze was gaining strength.

The rippling break helped me in then the breeze urged me out again. The pressure of the wind caused the bow to swing toward the sea - it was bow light. In the end I went shoreward as far in as I could, took the bow line in my hand and jumped ship. Like Gul-liver, I walked ashore neck-deep tow-ing the family. Where nature provides a problem, use it don’t oppose it.

Using Percy Blandford’s design for a gunter rig I would sail it. I hand stitched the sails, made the spars and used parachute lines for the rigging.

The ‘barge’ was used on rivers and lakes. In the hills in Wensley-dale there is a hill tarn, Semerwa-ter where people go at weekends to paddle and sail boats. I saw a newly launched ‘Enterprise’ dinghy take off with its crew, gain speed across the water, plunge in to the reeds on the other side, where the mast stepped at deck level lay down. My ‘barge’ was rigged ready to go. The breeze was steady and moderate. The sails caught the air and it started to move. The parachute rigging was elastic and my deck-stepped mast lay down too, it was a day for weary masts. Joan was a nurse and brought

The lines of a PBK20 from Boat Building by Percy W. Blandford. For more info on PBK kayaks, see page 20 in newsletter No.125.

No. 160 August - September 2012

18

One beautiful summer’s day on Ul-lswater, I was sailing solo to and fro across the beach and across the lake, then went ashore. A man approached, said he admired my craft and asked to buy it. I said “12 pounds” - which it cost to make, sails and all and went home with a heavy heart and wallet.

That provided the cash to build a Tyne Eskimo, length 17 feet, beam 21 inches. The attic bedroom where two students lodged was empty for the summer vacation. I built the Es-kimo there and with the car’s tow rope, launched the frame out of the dormer window, about 30 feet to the pavement.

That was when I started to learn real kayaking skills including rolling. Bill Saunders of the Central Coun-cil for Physical Recreation organised rolling classes in Durham City baths. He asked me to be the instructor as I had already rolled using the put across technique. Around 12 teach-ers and scout leaders attended, half learned to roll and among those who didn’t was me. For reward at the end of the course, Bill handed me a pair of fl at blade centre-jointed paddles Tacen by Klepper. My time as a kay-aking instructor had begun. The comment ‘BCU Royal Cot’ needs explanation. In the 1880s the Prince of Wales, later Edward the

home some used cords from Balkan Frames where patients needed sup-port for their plastered limbs. They worked fi ne. At Beadnell one windy cloud be-set noon, I launched the PBK 20 rigged for sailing, no reefi ng gear. The wind from the NE was onshore and the waves cresting, while further out they made an uncertain hori-zon. There was one other dinghy on the water, a National Twelve, solo, reefed down. On a broad reach I made Newton Point about two miles where the waves were breaking big, lots of fl ying spray.

In these wild conditions I wanted to go about but lacked the skill to do it, so held on almost to the break. At last on the edge of disaster I went about as I rode the peak of a wave poised to break; the barge turned on a sixpence as so little of its length was in the water. In the deep trough, the wind went off the sails then I rode the next crest when the wind hit hard but I was clawing my way off the land. Heading close to the wind, I returned to the middle of Beadnell Bay then faced the prospect of a straight run to the beach wind aft almost surfi ng. Intimations of mortality bothered my mind. I had no lifejacket, no buoy-ancy in the barge, little skill and the dark beach was empty of watchers. Only the good die young.

George Kerry paddling a PBK20 at the annual Cumbrae Sail and Oar Festival in Western Scotland, 19/08/12. Photo: Mark Parkinson

7th took up water sport, mostly sail-ing canoes. That was when John Macgregor was active with the Rob Roy design of smaller paddling ca-noe. Because the British Canoeing Association had a riverside cabin at Richmond on the Thames that is where the term ‘Royal’ was ac-quired. Armed with Royal approval, the canoeing fraternity had reached the pinnacle of attainment. There is only one way to go from ‘The Peak.’ Later as the British Canoe Union cen-tered heart, soul and paddle in Rich-mond, the cognoscenti were alarmed when a bunch of ignorami from the North-East took up paddling, pro-posing to split and by that attracted a great deal of help from the isolated ‘Ivory Tower’ South. Underlying the political activities was the Royal tag, London-based, where authority was to be found. John Dudderidge was president, Oliver Cock National Coach and they helped us. 250 miles on the old A1 in an old Rover before dual carriageways after school on a Friday took resolve. My beef is not with them but the courtiers behind them. There is a lot of North vs South in my time in paddling. I was a civil servant, not a tough miner face-stained with the blue of blasted coal, yet I fi nd affi nity with North Eastern independence. What we couldn’t af-ford, we made. We were not poor but a small family made counting the coppers a necessity. There are few greater drives for the exercise of in-genuity than the need for thrift also the certainty that whatever is avail-able something better can be found or designed, peer reviewed and made from bits of wood and canvas. Dad told me, “Whoever never made a mistake, made nothing.” Also, “If it was necessary to know everything before attempting anything, nothing would ever be done.” This occupied my spare time from 1957 to 1960, supported by Joan and the enthusiasm of our children. They met many people who helped to civi-lize them.

Alan Byde 11/08/2012

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

19

The inclusion of books covers, such as Naomi James At One With The Sea, Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows, Robin Lloyd-Jones’s Argonauts of the Western Isles, Dylan Thomas’s Under Milk Wood, adds depth to the book, linking these classic reads long ago with where they were set or written.

Inclusion of relevant postage stamps is a lovely touch, especially as out here in the Antipodes we see only stamps with the Queen’s head, not this lovely mixture of scenic and his-torical stamps seen in the book.

The text is set in a very readable double column format, and place names when fi rst mentioned are in bold, which is a nice touch. A poetry verse introduces most chapters:

Who will come a-sailingWho will come with meDown the sunny DebenTo the Distant sea?

Title: Rivers of Britain

Subtitle: Estuaries, Tideways, Havens, Lochs, Firths and KylesAuthor: Stuart FisherPublished: 2012Publisher: Adlard Coles Nautical UKWebsite: www.adlardcoles.comContents: 304 pp, maps, colour photos, lavishly illustratedCover: softcoverSize: 297 x 210 mm (A4 size)ISBN: 978-1-4081-4656-9Price: NZ$ 69.99NZ Availability:

United Book Distributors Ph: (09) 442 7400 Em:customer.service@ pearsonnz.co.nzReview: Paul Caffyn

Stuart Fisher, editor of the British magazine Canoeist for over 20 years, always included guides to sections of the British coast in the monthly magazine, or guides to rivers and canals of Britain. Sixty two of those coastal guides, based on what Stu-art maintained was the slowest ever kayak circumnavigation of Britain, were compiled into a 357 page book in 2006, titled Inshore Britain which was reviewed in KASK newsletter No. 124, p.15.

Now in 2012, Rivers of Britain moves into the inland tidal rivers of England, Scotland and Wales, the tidal rivers which fi nally morph into estuaries, tideways, havens, sea lochs, fi rths and kyles. The superb A4 size as used in Inshore Britain is followed, with 70 separate ‘river’ sections, working in a clockwise di-rection around Britain from Lands End. The upstream end of each sec-tion is where tidal action ceases.

Each section is lavishly illustrated with a combination of full page width, or single column width co-lour photos, along with well chosen thumbnail colour photos of book covers, stamps and beer bottle labels, and rounded off with a thumbnail lo-cation map and relevant 1:200,000 section maps.

The text is not mere dry geographi-cal descriptions of tidal rivers, but ‘fl ows’ along nicely with a mar-vellous mix of historical snippets, weather extremes, and how times have changed with the small and big ports.

The end of each section has a thin shaded column, with lists of: 1:50,000 map sheets, Admiralty charts, tidal constants, the sea area (for forecasts) and rescue services. A full three page index completes the book.

I can’t see the current breed of sea kayakers, who are endeavouring to race around Britain in record time, taking time to read about paddling the next section of tidal waters and ;earns about its history. But for Ki-wis thinking about either a ‘leisure-ly’ paddle around Britain or a tiki tour by vehicle, this title is recom-mended reading.

Paul Caffyn

BOOK REVIEW

No. 160 August - September 2012

20

BOOK REVIEWwhite prints, plans and documents.

All in all, this is a book that will probably appeal only to students of history, given the dry way the story is presented.

Footnote: The June 2012 edition of Sea Kayaker Magazine carries an ar-ticle titled Australian Folboats and Commandos, Their Vital Wartime Role, by John Hoehn.

This six page article details some of the history behind the World War Two folbots, including a 16 day, 750 mile trial of their effectiveness in May 1943, but also adds stories of their use during the Korean and Vi-etnam wars.

This article is written in a much more lively style, hinting at the benefi t of good editing.

John Kirk-Anderson

Title: Commando Kayak

Subtitle: The man behind Australian FolboatsAuthor: John HoehnPublished: 2012Publisher: Hirsch PublishingWebsite: www.hirschbooks.netContents: 106 pp, 31 pages of b&w photos, bibliographyCover: softcoverSize: 205 x 275 mmPrice: Approx. $40 AustISBN: 978-3-033-01717-7Availability: via the websiteReview: John Kirk-Anderson

Fitting fi rmly in the ‘special interest’ section, this book tells the story of Walter Hohn, the inventor of fold-ing kayaks, or folbots, used by the Australians during the Second World War. Written by his son, John Hoe-hn, it draws on memories of the au-thor, documents found after Walter’s death and interviews with former commandos.

Walter, a Swiss-born engineer liv-ing near Melbourne, had patented his design of a folding kayak in 1929 and this helped bring him to the at-tention of military offi cials when they needed a small craft to wage war against the Japanese who were drawing close to mainland Australia. Little information on their intended use was given to the inventor, and feedback was less than clear. Post war reports have indicated that they were extensively used in reconnais-sance, sabotage, rescues and raids.

It would be easy to imagine that dur-ing wartime, petty bickering, poli-tics and profi teering would be put aside for the war effort, but this book makes clear that this is not the case. Much of the book is devoted to the battles that Walter fought against bu-reaucracy as his designs were stolen, tenders given to competitors and his supply chain blocked.

Adding to his woes, but also the rea-son for the military’s approach in the fi rst place, were the territorial dis-

putes between the Americans and the British over operating in the South Pacifi c. Britain’s Special Operations Executive (SOE) were the driving force behind small unit raids behind Japanese lines, but this clashed with America’s ambitions and they cut funding, requiring the Australians to look closer to home.

A gem that came out of the book was the selection process for some of the men chosen to test the craft, and I quote, “After all, truck drivers devel-op strong arm and shoulder muscles for moving goods around and are also used to sitting down for count-less hours, so it was a fair bet that he would also fi t the job as a competent folboater.”

It is probably fair to say that driv-ing trucks was a different job in the 1940s than it is today!

Also interesting to the contemporary recreational paddler was the method the commandos used for crossing surf, both launching and landing; both paddlers would sit on the deck with their feet in the cockpit and paddle from there, usually using a single-bladed paddle. No explana-tion is given for using this method, which would do little for the stability of the craft.

The author, like his father, is also a Swiss engineer, and as expected the book is logical, clear, and thorough. There are 75 pages of closely-typed text, organised into eight chapters, followed by 31 pages of black and

NEW BOOK RELEASES

Audrey Sutherland has a slim hard-back published on her infl atable kayak trips in south-east Alaska. Her previous books include Paddling My Own Canoe and Paddling Hawai’i.

Searching for the Finmen is Nor-man Rogers’s research into how West Greenland kayaks landed on the north-eastern coast of Britain - ‘Finmen’ was the name given by the locals to the strange men in skin kay-aks, who washed up on the shores. I have ordered 10 copies - let me know if you want your name on a copy:email: kayakpc@xtra.co.nz

New Zealand Sea Canoeist

21

HUMOUROlympic Wresting MatchTwo wrestlers, one Russian and one Irish, were set to square off for an Olympic gold medal. Before the fi -nal match, the Irish wrestler’s trainer came to him and said, “Now, don’t forget all the research we’ve done on this Russian. He’s never lost a match because of this ‘pretzel’ hold he has. Whatever you do, do not let him get you in that hold! If he does, you’re fi nished.” The Irishman nodded in acknowledg-ment. As the match started, the Irish-man and the Russian circled each other several times, looking for an opening. All of a sudden, the Rus-sian lunged forward, grabbed the Irishman and wrapped him up in the dreaded pretzel hold. A sigh of dis-appointment arose from the crowd, and the trainer buried his face in his hands, for he knew all was lost. He couldn’t watch the inevitable happen. Suddenly, there was a long, high-pitched scream, a cheer from the crowd and the trainer raised his eyes just in time to watch the Russian go fl ying up in the air. His back hit the mat with a thud and the Irishman col-lapsed on top of him, making the pin and winning the gold medal. The trainer was astounded. When he fi -nally got his wrestler alone, he asked, “How did you ever get out of that hold? No one has ever done it before!”

The wrestler answered, “Well, I was ready to give up when he got me in that hold but, at the last moment, I opened my eyes and saw this big pair of testicles right in front of my face. I had nothing to lose, so with my last ounce of strength, I stretched out my neck and bit those babies just as hard as I could.” The trainer exclaimed, “That’s what fi nished him off?”“Not really. You’d be amazed at the incredible surge of strength you pos-sess once you’ve bitten your own family jewels.”

Two Irishmen fi nd a mirror in the road.The fi rst one picks it up and says, “Blow me down, I know this face but I cant put a name to it.”The second picks it up and says, “You daft bastard, it’s me!”

Tiger nods a quick ‘hello’ and bends forward to pick up the nozzle.As he does so, two tees fall out of his shirt pocket onto the ground. “What are those?” asks the attendant.“They’re called tees,” replies Tiger.“Well, what on the god’s earth are dey for?” enquires the Irishman.“They’re for resting my balls on when I’m driving,” says Tiger.“Faykin Jaysus”, says the Irishman, “Mercedes thinks of everything!”

Outback VentriloquistA visiting ventriloquist walks into a small outback village and sees a lo-cal fellow sitting on his porch patting his dog. He fi gures he’ll have a lit-tle fun, so he says to the man, “Hey, mind if I talk to your dog?”Local: “The dog doesn’t talk, stu-pid.”Ventriloquist: “Hello dog, how’s it going mate?”Dog: “Doin’ all right.”Local: (look of extreme shock)Ventriloquist: “Is this bloke your owner?” (pointing at the local)Dog: “Yep.”Ventriloquist: “How does he treat you?”Dog: “Real good. He walks me twice a day, feeds me great food and takes me to the lake once a week to play.”Local: (look of utter disbelief)Ventriloquist: “Mind if I talk to your horse?”Local: “Uh, the horse don’t talk ei-ther - I think.”Ventriloquist: “Hey horse, how’s it going?”Horse: “Cool.”Local: (absolutely dumbfounded)Ventriloquist: “Is this your owner?” (pointing at the local)Horse: “Yep.”Ventriloquist: “How does he treat you?”Horse: “Pretty good, thanks for ask-ing. He rides me regularly, brushes me down often and keeps me in the barn to protect me from the ele-ments.”Local: (total look of amazement)Ventriloquist: “Mind if I talk to your sheep?”Local: (in a panic) “The sheep’s a liar.”

Modern TechnologyI was visiting my son and daughter-in-law last night. When I asked if I could borrow a newspaper, my son replied, “This is the 21st century, old man. We don’t waste money on newspapers. Here, borrow my iPad.” I can tell you, that bloody fl y never knew what hit it.

Windscreen Testing with Dead ChooksScientists at Rolls Royce built a gun specifi cally to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners and military jets all travelling at maxi-mum velocity.

The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the wind-shields. American engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the Windshields of their new high-speed trains. Arrangements were made, and a gun was sent to the American engineers.

When the gun was fi red, the engi-neers stood shocked as the chicken hurled out of the barrel, crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted through the control console, snapped the engi-neer’s back-rest in two and embed-ded itself in the back wall of the cabin like an arrow shot from a bow.The horrifi ed Yanks sent Rolls Royce the disastrous results of the experi-ment, along with the designs of the windshield and begged the Brit-ish scientists for suggestions. Rolls Royce responded with a one-line memo, “Firstly, defrost the chicken.”

One good reason to drive a Merc!On a golf tour in Ireland, Tiger Woods drives his Mercedes into a petrol station in a remote part of the Irish countryside. The pump at-tendant, obviously knows nothing about golf, greets him in a typical Irish manner, completely unaware of who the golfi ng pro is. “Top of the mornin’ toyer, sir,” says the attendant.

No. 160 August - September 2012

22

KASKKASK, the Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers (N.Z.) Inc., a network of New Zealand sea kayakers, has the objectives of:

1. promoting and encouraging the sport of sea kayaking2. promoting safety standards3. developing techniques & equipment4. dealing with issues of coastal access and protection5. organizing an annual sea kayak forum6. publishing a bimonthly newsletter.

The Sea Canoeist Newsletter is published bimonthly as the offi cial newsletter of the Kiwi Association of Sea Kayakers (N.Z.) Inc.Articles, trip reports, book reviews, equipment reviews, new techniques, letters to the editor, and moments when the word ‘Bugger!’ was said singularly or often (referred to by some as incidents) are sought to en-liven the pages of the newsletter.

Send via mail or cybermail to: Paul Caffyn, 1843C, Coast Rd, RD 1, Runanga 7873, West Coast Ph: 03 731 1806Email: kayakpc@xtra.co.nz

KASK Annual Subscription$35 single membership.$40 family membership. $35 overseas (PDF email newsletter)For new members, a special price of $15 is offered for the KASK Hand-book - $50 for the sub. & handbook.

A subscription form can be down-loaded from the KASK website. Cheques should be made out to:Kiwi Association Sea Kayakers & mailed to: KASK AdministratorPO Box 23, Runanga 7841West Coast

Correspondence - QueriesCHANGE OF ADDRESS to:

Kay Pidgeon, KASK AdministratorPO Box 23, Runanga 7841West Coast

or email Kay at: admin@kask.org.nz

4th Ed. KASK HANDBOOK Updated to March 2008For trade orders of this mother of all sea kayaking handbooks, contact Paul Caffyn: email: kayakpc@xtra.co.nzShop RRP: $34.90NZ KASK members only, including p&p: $22.50Make cheques out to Kiwi Asso-ciation of Sea Kayakers and mail to KASK Administrator: PO Box 23, Runanga, 7841 West Coast

The 4th edition of the KASK Hand-book, is a mammoth compilation on all aspects of sea kayaking in New Zealand, by many of the most ex-perienced paddlers in the Universe. Following a brief introduction, the handbook is divided into six sections:- Kayak, Paddle & Equipment- Techniques & Equipment- The Elements- Trips and Expeditions- Places to Go - Resources

SEA KAYAKING NETWORK ADDRESSES

NORTH ISLANDNORTHLAND Canoe ClubPO Box 755, WhangareiCatherine KeleherPh: 09 436 0341email:cathkel@xtra.co.nzAUCKLAND Canoe ClubPO Box 9271, Newmarket, Aucklandemail: secretary@aucklandcanoeclub.org.nz HAURAKI Kayak GroupPO Box 46-146, Herne Bay, Aucklandemail: kayak@hkg.org.nzwww.hkg.org.nzWAIKATO KASK Contact Evan Pugh, RD2, Putaruru 3482email: sheepskinsnstuff@xtra.co.nzPh: 07 883 6898www.sportsground.co.nz/bayseakayakRUAHINE Whitewater Club71 Salisbury St., AshhurstPh: 06 326 8667 Fax: 06 326 8472www.q-kayaks.co.nz/pages/club.aspBAY OF PLENTY - KASK ContactIona Bailey, TaurangaPh: 07 576 1492email: bailhut@clear.net.nzROTORUA- KASK ContactJohn Flemming PO Box 1872, RotoruaPh: 07 347 9950

email: shakey@slingshot.co.nzROTORUA Kayak Club7 Mahana Place, RotoruaPh: 027 292 3138email: Woolhouse.Clark@xtra.co.nzGISBORNE Sea Kayakers ClubJohn Humphris, 3 Matthews Rd, GisbornePh: 06 868 4657email: thetrolls@xtra.co.nz WELLINGTON Sea Kayak NetworkSandy Winterton, 1 Antico St, Melrose, WellingtonPh: 04 977 1862email: sandy@energyadvantage.co.nzwww.wskn.wellington.net.nz

SOUTH ISLANDMARLBOROUGH Martyn SmithPh: 03 577 6256email: blueskua@hotmail.comNELSON - KASK ContactChris HinkleyPh: 03 526 6817email: kask@nelsonkayakers.co.nzCANTERBURY Sea Kayak NetworkAndy & Deirdre Sheppard53 Kent Lodge Ave,Avonhead, Christchurch 8004Ph: 03 342 7929email: d_sheppard@clear.net.nzwww.sportsground.co.nz/canterburyseakayakOTAGOJosh SullivanPh: 027 362 2122 email: Paddlingmountains@gmail.com SOUTHLAND Sea Kayak NetworkStan Mulvany03 215 7263email: eiger@xtra.co.nzwww.sskn.uniformnz.comSKOANZSea Kayak Operators Assn. NZemail: pete@canoeandkayak.co.nz Ph 027 452 9255www.skoanz.org.nz

YAKITY YAK CLUBSwww.canoeandkayak.co.nzor freephone: 0508 KAYAKNZ0508 529 2569

KASK Website: www.kask.org.nz

Just on dawn, Tara heads seawards for the entrance of Otago Harbour with Taiaroa Head on the right.Both photos: Tara Mulvany on 23 September 2012.

Tara Mulvany cruising past the rugged bluffs south-east of Taiaroa Head, on a long run south to the Taieri Mouth.

MAILED TO

KASK MEMBERSHIP POLICYCurrent membership fees are:- $35 for ordinary membership- for new members $35 or $50 to include a copy of the KASK Handbook- $40 for family or joint membership ($55 to include a Handbook copy)- $35 for overseas membership (PDF newsletter only); $50 for new o/s members plus cost of overseas postage for a copy of the KASK Handbook- members should endeavour to renew by 1 August- the KASK fi nancial year runs 1 August to 31 July the following year - a subscription due notice and up to two reminders are sent out with the newsletters between June and October - if a membership renewal is not received by 30 September, membership lapses - new members who join between 1 June and 31 July automatically get their membership credited to the following year, receiving a 14 month membership - the KASK committee puts its emphasis on confi rming renewals from existing members from July to October; and promoting new KASK memberships from November to February

If undelivered, please return to:KASK, PO Box 23, Runanga, West Coast 7841

Sim Grigg racing the Interislander ferry for the entrance to Tory Channel. Photo: Tara Mulvany